Yaniv Schulman: Set it up, organize a time with me, put together some materials, emails, we'll get the Facebook conversations printed out and we'll really talk about it. "Don't let anyone tell you what it is."Totally didn't expect this movie to turn out how it did. I guess I should have listened to the tagline. Before
watching it I would have expected a thriller, but afterwards it was anything but a thriller. Sure there were moments of suspense when Yaniv was first finding stuff out about the family, but that was only there because I was expecting a different outcome.Catfish happens to be a creative and pretty original type of film. It's a fake documentary that seems truly real. I loved the setup and how the filmmakers used all the growing social media elements to make a compelling story. I there was one thing about the movie that I wasn't completely thrilled with, that would be the last twenty minutes. The first hour was so engrossing and leads us to believe something crazy is going to happen. So when what I thought would happen doesn't, I'll admit I sort of lost interest. Plus the way Yaniv acts towards Angela in the end is sort of unbelievable. If it were me, I'd probably bitch slap her.We follow the online relationship of Yaniv with a family in Michigan. He first comes in contact with them when I photo he took is made into a painting by an 8 year old girl, Abbey, and is sent to him. She starts doing more and more of his photos and soon he is talking on the phone with her mother. Then he begins to strike up a long distance relationship with Abbey's sister. From there I won't say anything more, as it is important not to know too much. Catfish is one of the more interesting is it real documentaries I have seen. There's been some good ones out there: Man Bites Dog, The Blair Witch Project, Christopher Guest's films, and recently the polarizing I'm Still Here. What's more interesting about this one than any of the others, except maybe I'm Still Here(at first), is that this seems believable. It seems real. In the social media age we live in, stuff like this is sure to happen. I wasn't sure how much I would like this even while I was watching it. But after finishing it and thinking about it a little, I'm blown away by the first hour of it. If the last twenty minutes was more believable, this probably would have been my favorite is it real doc ever. As it is, it is still one of the better ones I have seen. Real or fake, it is interesting either way.
February 1, 2012
Top Critic
